8
U.S. Department of Energy* Cold War Legacy Facilities
Workers at more than 200 facilities in 37 States were exposed to radiation, beryllium, and other toxic substances
supporting Cold War nuclear weapons activities(See Attached List for Details)
Pantex Plant
Sandia National
Laboratories
Los Alamos National
Laboratory
Rocky Flats Plant
Kansas City Plant
Weldon
Spring
Paducah Plant
Fernald
Plant
Mound
Plant
Portsmouth
Plant
Oak Ridge
Reservation
Savannah
River Site
Pinellas Plant
Amchitka Island
Idaho National
Engineering Laboratory
Nevada Test
Site
Hanford Site
Lawrence
Livermore
National
Laboratory
UraniumEnrichment
UraniumRefining
Fuel andTarget
Fabrication
PlutoniumProduction
Reactors
UraniumFoundry
UraniumMining
and Milling
Reprocessing toSeparate
Plutonium
Assemblyand
Dismantlement
NuclearComponents
NonnuclearComponents
Departmentof Defense
Nuclear Weapons Production
Weapons
Research &
DesignTesting
Uranium and plutonium are
further processed for
warhead triggers
Chemical separation is
used to extract plutonium
from irradiated targets
Warhead triggers, neutron
generators, and other electrical
and mechanical components
are assembled into complete
warheads
Uranium target
elements are
irradiated to create
plutonium
Uranium metal is
formed into fuel
and target
elements for
reactors
Uranium gas is
converted into
metal
Uranium is processed into low
enrichment uranium, highly enriched
uranium & depleted uranium
Uranium is mined and
refined from ore
2
1
6
11
2
4
1
2
2 1
4
22
5
3
3
3
15
2
3
12
1
1
1
1
5
9
2
1
1
1
5
5
1
26
=
=2
Former industrial sites contaminated with
radioactivity, some but not all of which
contributed to nuclear weapons production.
Number indicates how many sites were or
are located in the State.
=Be
Former sites contaminated with beryllium,
some but not all of which contributed to
nuclear weapons production.
2
Rev. 2, 5/18/00, 07:00
* U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor
organizations including the Atomic Energy Commission
and the Energy Research and Development
Administration.
Be
Be3
Be2
Be2
Be3
8Be2
Be6
Be4
BeBe
9
Be3
Be5
Be
Be
Be
Be9
7
Be5
Be
Be
Be2
Be
Be2
Burlington
Assembly Plant
3
Be2
Be
3
Be
Be
James Werner:
Uranium
hexafluordie
cylinders at Oak
Ridge K-25 site
(K-1066-K
storage yard)..
The site stores
5,000 cylinders.
Worker inspects
cylinders using
ultrasound. Jan
9, 1994.
The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex
Pantex
Plant
Savannah
River Site
Paducah Plant
Fernald Plant
Hanford Site
Nevada
Test Site
Lawrence
Livermore
National
Laboratory
Rocky Flats Plant
Los Alamos
National
Laboratory
Sandia National
Laboratories
Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant
Burlington
Assembly
Plant
Portsmouth Plant
Mound Plant
Amchitka
Island
Weldon Spring
Kansas City
Plant
5
Pinellas
Plant
Bikini and
Eniwetok
Atolls
Oak Ridge Reservation
Idaho National
Engineering Laboratory
Weapons Research and Design
Fuel Fabrication, Irradiation, and Chemical Separation;
Component Fabrication
Chemical Separation
Plutonium Warheads
Weapons Engineering
Weapons Research and Design
High-Explosives Fabrication,
Final Warhead Assembly
and Disassembly
Uranium Refinery and Metal Foundry
Electronic, Mechanical, and
Plastic Components
Components of Highly Enriched Uranium, Depleted Uranium
and Lithium Deuteride and Uranium Enrichment
Uranium Enrichment
Actuators, Ignitors, Detonators
Neutron Generators
Fuel & Target Fabrication,
Irradiation, Chemical Separation;
Tritium Production
Uranium Enrichment
2
2
2
4
2
2
10
9 5
2
Uranium Refinery, Metal Foundry and Machining Plants
2
3
4
4
7
9
2
3
2
7
Rio Blanco
and Rulison Sites
Salmon Site
Central Nevada Test Area
and Shoal Test Site
Gnome-Coach
Gasbuggy
A
U
A
U U
U
U
U
4
=
===
A
U
Former industrial sites contaminated
with radioactivity, some but not all of
which contributed to nuclear weapons
production.
Number indicates how many sites were
or are located in the State.
Atmospheric Testing
Underground Testing
66
“Institutional controls will fail.”
National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council, Board on Radioactive
Waste Management, Committee on the Remediation of Buried and Tank Waste,
Long-Term Institutional Management of the U.S. Department of Energy Legacy Waste
Sites, August 2000, at page 97.